The Solar Wind (14 page)

Chapter 11: The Holidays

The weeks seemed to fly by faster and faster as Ava eagerly awaited the weekends to be with Wesley and the others. Since her return from Capri Ava joined a twice weekly self defense class for women at Naomi’s suggestion. She put the events of the club behind her, and decided to try and learn how not to be victimized again. The class was divided into two parts. The first half was spent discussing tips on what to do if various situations occurred, and the second half was for practicing techniques on how to protect yourself. It ended up being quite a good workout. Ava and her partner in the class, Elaine, had become friends and occasionally spent time with each other outside of class. Elaine was a year older than Ava and had been on Orionis for three years. She and her boyfriend were going through a rough time and decided to take a break from each other. She had joined the class to try and kill some time in the evenings after working all day in a financial institution. Whatever the reason she was there, Ava liked having a local friend who seemed mature and well rounded.

The atmosphere in Orionis felt a little happier in December. With the holidays coming Ava became excited because she knew she would have a few more long weekends to spend time with Wesley. He had also promised to take her to visit Alexis and Marc Tasker on Antares. Her old friends from Earth had been granted permission to have a baby and Alexis was now in the beginning of her first pregnancy. Ava bought a few small gifts for the baby as she did not know when her next visit might be. At Christmas the journey to Antares seemed like it would never end, it was twice as long as the trip to Capri. However, life aboard the Andromeda never seemed boring. The crew taught Ava a little more about the ship each time she was aboard and even allowed her to pitch in to help if she wanted. Ava hated to be a fifth wheel doing nothing. Naomi, Rowan, and Mia tutored her in French regularly, and she began to understand and feel comfortable speaking simple sentences in the language. Rowan also taught Ava some new recipes and some tips on how to care for the plants in the oxygen garden and greenhouse. Ava especially enjoyed spending more time alone with Wesley, they had grown very close over the past several weeks.

Mia knew best how to get around on Antares and escorted Ava to Alexis’ quarters while the others enjoyed some free time without an assignment. After Alexis and Ava were happily reunited, Mia excused herself and promised to collect Ava at the agreed upon time when they would all go out for dinner.

“Congratulations on your first baby!” Ava gushed to her friend after Mia left.

“Thank you, we are so excited! I can’t wait until he or she comes into our world. I am so happy that we can give our baby a better upbringing than the somber underground childhood we had.”

“I know what you mean. It is exciting. Antares seems like such a nice station to live on, from what I’ve seen so far. What do you like best about it?”

“Everything. It definitely has been a positive move for us. The air is cleaner and fresher than what we were breathing on Earth and the conditions here are much more comfortable. Marc loves his new position in the hospital,” Alexis said glancing at Marc.

“Thank you for sharing your insight into the migration process Ava, your advice has made this a smooth transition for us,” Marc commented.

Antares, being the fifth station built in orbit, had many amenities that Orionis did not have, however it was not as modern as Capri. Some stations, Sceptrum in particular, were known for industry and manufacturing. Antares, on the other hand, was known for its multiple large agricultural levels, giving it the nickname of the “Emerald Station.” It was the largest producer of soybeans in the common galaxy. Ava noticed the characteristic faint green glow the station cast during the landing. This station had by far the freshest and cleanest air Ava has experienced. Antares sometimes called on the Andromeda and its crew to export their precious produce to the other stations.

“Ava you look and seem so much happier now than when I last saw you on Earth,” Alexis noted.

“Yes, I am very happy now.” Ava paused. “That day seems like an eternity ago. I am very fortunate to have such wonderful new friends.”

“Tell me about this captain, Wesley. You write about him a lot. Are the two of you more than friends?” She said with coy curiosity.

“Yes, we’ve definitely entered relationship territory,” Ava said cheerfully. She smiled happily.

“I think it’s wonderful Ava. It is nice to see that you have moved on. Nathan would not want to see you wither with grief forever. We worried about you when you left Earth and especially with the financial hardship you suffered after your arrival on Orionis. That must have been terrible. I wished that there was some way I could have helped you. You have no idea how relieved I was when you wrote about your new friends and the support that they gave you. I look forward to meeting all of them tonight.”

“I’m sure that you will like them as much as I do. I would be so lonely without them.”

The two friends continued to catch up until six o’clock, when Mia arrived to escort them to the restaurant, which was not far from the hangar. Ava introduced Alexis and Marc to Wesley, and then to the rest of her friends. Neither Alexis nor Marc indicated they felt anything out of the ordinary as they shook Wesley’s hand.  As they were being escorted to their table, Alexis gave Ava an inconspicuous smile and a slight nod to indicate that she approved. Ava had to look away to keep herself from laughing out loud. The evening flew by until it was once again time for Ava to part with her old friends. Wesley promised to bring Ava back after the baby was born for a visit. The two women hugged and then Ava took Wesley’s hand as the group headed back to the Andromeda.

Ava grew up with great love for the Christmas Holidays. It always felt like a generous time of year to her. On Earth, people in general seemed happier and friendlier to her. People were more willing to go the extra mile to help you out if you had fallen on bad times. Despite the poverty, her aunt Katherine always managed to give Ava a special little gift each year. A tradition Ava and Nathan carried on for each other until he passed away. Now Ava wanted to give something small to Wesley during the journey back to Orionis. As the ship left Antares behind, Ava and Wesley settled into the common room by themselves. Ava gave Wesley an old-fashioned framed picture of herself. Since they had many digital images of each other, she thought he might enjoy something different. He had told her not to buy him anything for Christmas, but she wanted to give him something. Ava struggled to come up with an idea. What do you give the person who has everything?

He studied the photo intently. “I will treasure it Ava, thank you.” She thought he seemed to appreciate it. They sat alone together on the couch in the common room.

“I have something for you too.”

“You can’t give me any presents Wesley. You already do too much for me as it is.”

“Non-sense. Besides, I’m the captain. I can give you a present if I want to,” he replied amicably as he rose to collect something out of a nearby drawer.

“Ha ha ha, very funny Captain Robinson,” she said mockingly.

“Merry Christmas Ava.” He held out a small box to her.  It looked very old. She took the box and opened it slowly. Inside she found a round gold locket engraved on the front with a crescent moon and a star, both with tiny diamonds set in them.

“This is so beautiful,” she said as she carefully took it out of the box and opened it. It was empty and slightly tarnished inside.

“It’s an antique, probably several hundred years old. I thought it was in pretty good shape for its age. Do you like it?”

“I love it!” She pulled her hair back and put it on. It fell to the perfect length on her chest. “I love that it goes with my earrings, and also that it’s very unique and celestial. Thank you so much.” She gave him long kiss and a hug. “I know who’s picture I can put in it” she teased.

“Oh really? Whoever it is, he’s a lucky man,” he joked back to her. They laughed heartily, enjoying each other’s company.

Before landing back in the hangar Ava tried to pry some clues out of Wesley as to what he wanted to do for New Year’s Eve. Orionis was not exactly a celebration destination. Ava believed Wesley had something else planned because the holiday fell on another long weekend. The only clue he had given her was to pack to be out of town for several days. The short workweek went fast. Ava missed having her friends around in between the holidays, but there technically were no holidays in their line of work. As promised, Wesley came for her at six on Friday night to escort her back to the Andromeda.

Once aboard and the Andromeda safely departed Ava began interrogating everyone until Wesley finally revealed that they would be spending New Year’s Eve on Capri.

“Their largest hotel has a big party every year with lots of dancing and entertainment. We hear the food isn’t bad either. What do you think?”

“This is going to be so much fun! I can’t wait. I haven’t been to a New Year’s Eve party in years. The best part is that I will be able to spend it with you.”

“We were lucky to get reservations for the party and reserve a spot for landing. Their hangars are usually filled to the brim with ships during New Year Holiday because it is such a popular destination.”

They landed early on New Year’s Eve and everyone slept in late because they knew they would be up late for the party. Naomi took Ava shopping for a few hours while some of the others worked out or ran errands, keeping their senses open for Bryant. None of the crew felt his presence anywhere near them so they continued their plans without interruption. Later, Rowan helped Ava put her hair up in a formal yet fun style for the party. Ava brought a simple mauve hued mid length satiny strapless dress to wear. She always liked how the color complimented her dark hair and that the classic style never seemed out of fashion. She had not worn it in years because she had no occasion for it. Celebrating a new year on Earth only meant it was that much closer to being uninhabitable, not exactly a happy event.

The festivities commenced with a large parade through the avenues leading up to the hotel where the party was to take place. A great number of Capri’s residents lined up all through the avenues to view the colorful parade. Ava enjoyed the energy, the different light show displays, and music as the parade pounced by. Her friends seemed to be enjoying the parade as well however Ava noticed that they all had watchful eyes. She wondered if they were keeping a look out for their former crew mate. Why is he such a big deal, she thought. After the parade, the people who were lucky enough to have reservations to the party filed inside the hotel, while the rest of the crowd dispersed into the other nearby restaurants and clubs to begin their own celebrations. Ava and her friends were assigned to their own table for the party and hung out there until the appetizers were served. Wesley and Ava walked around the ballroom and looked at all of the decorations. There were even a few ice sculptures. “They are made out of recycled water. As they melt, the water will be collected and re-used again” he explained.

After dinner Ava and Wesley chatted with Rowan and Justin while Mia, Ash, Naomi and Andre hit the dance floor. Ava never felt she had the coordination to dance, and never learned. Wesley openly admitted he was not a dancer either so they did not venture out. Ava could not believe how graceful Naomi and Andre were at dancing as she observed them. When it came time for the big count down and the champagne toast, they did head out into the dance floor and kissed at the stroke of midnight and the beginning of a hopeful new year.

The group made their way back to the Andromeda in the wee hours of the morning. Ava, never a night owl, was ready to go to sleep. The next day, Wesley took Ava for some sight-seeing, as many of the businesses were closed for the holiday. They decided to have dinner alone, just the two of them before heading back to the ship. Once back on board they were met by Andre who requested to speak to Wesley alone. Ava excused herself to her quarters to freshen up, wondering what they needed to talk about. Once Ava was out of earshot Andre spoke.

“Wesley, we need to depart as soon as possible.”

“What’s going on?”

“The holidays have brought many tourists to Capri. It appears that this has also attracted several Space Pirates. As you know because the ITO has really cracked down on them lately they are more desperate than ever. The reports are that a few of them have commandeered some of the ITO ships and are flying around out there assaulting ships left and right. I hacked into the network and I’ve been listening to the transmissions going on between them and the ITO control tower. They are trying to keep the whole thing quiet so as not to alarm anyone. Can you believe that! It’s only a matter of time before one of them is mistakenly granted permission to land in here and then we could have a crisis on our hands. I don’t know about you, but I’ve worked too hard on this ship to see it blown to bits by a bunch of thieving terrorists.”

“Agreed. When is the next mass launching? If we leave along with several other ships, we’ll have a better chance of slipping out without becoming a target.”

“Twenty-five minutes.”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Naomi added, joining the conversation.

“What are your thoughts if we stay until tomorrow?” Wesley asked.

“I have a bad feeling about that too. There’s something else. Bryant is here in the hangar somewhere, I can feel it. He’s probably watching us and wondering why we are back, we never come to Capri for New Years.”